The Little Sloop Molly, American Revolution and Gunpowder

 12 Mar 26:

Captain John Pasteur and the little sloop MOLLY are on our minds...Pasteur was a Patriot Privateer and later a "Virginia Boats" Captain...

From the minutes of the Virginia Navy Board in Williamsburg... January 3rd, 1777:
"Capt John Pasteur appeared and agreed for the Sum of four hundred and twenty five pounds, to deliver unto the Naval Board of Commissioners a Schooner Boat called the MOLLY, together with the Rigging Tackle and Apparel belonging to her - The money to be paid him upon his giving a Bill of Sale for the said Vessel."
"Ordered that Capt John Pasteur take the Command of the Schooner Boat Molly this day Purchased of him by the Board."

John Pasteur was close friends with John Sinclair, both mariners and residents of Church Street, and both who eventually took commissions in the Virginia Navy. And both married to Wilson women, Honour and Ann. Also in the mix is Sinclair's sister Margaret, who married Edward Lattimer, who later became Pasteur's First Lieutenant. There is more to learn about all of them, and their ties to other Isle of Wight County Mariners.

But enough about people, let's talk about boats! The little sloop MOLLY was built in Baltimore in 1770 and her original registered owner was Josiah Parker. MOLLY had a crew of four men and her first Master was Charles Fulgham of Smithfield, and before March of 1774 MOLLY was sold to a syndicate headed by John Pasteur. In early 1776 she cast off with John Pasteur as Master and was sent "to southward," returning with 7500 pounds of powder....and we're not talking flour, although flour was a prized cargo as well.

Gunpowder was essential to the Patriot's cause, and it is mind boggling to picture MOLLY and her crew braving the hazards of the coastal Atlantic, the vagaries of the West Indies and evading British warships during her round trip voyage from the Tidewater. MOLLY's service continues until 1794, there is much more to her record, and Pasteur's, that we will get into this Spring. So stand fast!
(Reference and Image Credit: Lanciano, Claude O.. "Captain John Sinclair of Virginia." 1975.

Women's History Month - Skipper Edition

 15 Mar 26:

There's not may conversations that go like this...

Me: "I wonder if we could paddle SWEETNESS out with a SUP paddle and the sail rig down, rig the boat, sail it, then paddle back in with the rig luffing?"

Skipper: "Hand me the paddle."

Sailmaker Jane Nelle

 14 Mar 26: 

On December 20 1984, the Bristol Phoenix memorialized Jane Nelle. Jane Nelle was a sailmaker at HMCo. beginning in 1923. She trained under sailmaker Billy Paine, and left with Paine in 1933 when he began his own sailmaking business. Her career spanned an era of great transition in sailmaking, from cotton to nylon and Dacron. Today she is thought to have been the first female sailmaker in Rhode Island. She later worked at Thurston Sails in Warren, RI, for fifteen years. She has since been featured as part of an exhibit about remarkable Rhode Island women at the Roger Williams University Library.

Lady Phyllis Brodie Leslie Gordon Sopwith

 14 Mar 26: 

Phyllis Brodie Leslie Gordon Sopwith knew how to take a picture. She was regularly photographed at the helm of the America's Cup challengers ENDEAVOUR and ENDEAVOUR II, and always dressed for the occasion. Her official capacity onboard was timekeeper, which she performed when the yachts competed in the 1934 and 1937 America’s Cup races off Newport. The first ENDEAVOUR, a steel-hulled 130 foot yacht that introduced the quadrilateral genoa to J-class racing, came very close to winning the Cup in 1934 against the W. Starling Burgess designed RAINBOW (HMCo. #1233).

ENDEAVOR I ahead of ENDEAVOR II. 1937. HMM Archive.

Elizabeth E. Meyer - Yacht Restoration

13 Mar 26:

Folks are sometimes amazed at what we do with basket case boats...and we are too...but here's a sailor who has made quite a mark on yachting, with her restoration of the J class yacht ENDEAVOR and establishment of the International Yacht Restoration School, Elizabeth Meyer.

Miss Winnifred Sutton and WEE WINN

8 Mar 26:

Nice looking boat we saw at the Herreshoff Marine Museum, named WEE WINN.

Image HMMCo

LOA 23’10” LWL 16’3” Beam 4’6” Draught 3’0”

"Launched in June of 1892 the Herreshoff fin keeler shown above was shipped to Southampton, England and into the capable hands of Miss Winnifred Sutton. At a time when a woman sailor could be described as not only skillful but “plucky” the combination of Miss Sutton’s ability and Nathanael Herreshoff’s innovative design won 20 of the first 21 races of her first season.   According to the designer’s grandson, Halsey Herreshoff, “Over Wee Winn’s long racing career, she proved herself the decisive champion of the Solent.” (IRYS, 2021)

Love the tiller.

Image: HMMCo

Herreshoff Marine Museum

International Yacht Restoration School 

Paint Splotches

 We need to transfer these patterns over to the new carriage house in Virginia :)

Carriage House Floor Patterns

 24 Feb 21:

We are making tracings of the Carriage House floor art and catboat half breadths, to transfer over to the new Carriage House in Virginia.

Log of the Carriage House.

Steam Boats and Steam Trains

06 Feb 26:

The Surry Lumber Company founded the Surry, Sussex and Southhampton Railway in the late 1800s and the trains made their way to the wharf in Scotland, VA to offload lumber and many different types of wood products. 

2 Million Views!

 05 Mar 26:

Our blog quietly slipped past two million views last month! It's been getting some views lately, we never know why some days peak and others do not. 

We've had a lot of fun sharing information about small boats and plan to keep messing about :)

Thanks for viewing!

Kent and Audrey

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Skipper's Guide to Small Boat Knots

 02 Mar 26: 

A little book of the 4 basic knots to get started messing about in small boats. Color photos of real knots in use on real boats, the bowline, figure 8, half hitch and square knot. Also includes chapters on the sailor's spar hitch and marlin hitch. Bonus chapters cover nautical terms, how to tie a cleat hitch, wrap a flemish coil, belay a line and whip the end of a line, all the boatcraft skills needed to keep a small ship looking ship shape. The small boats featured in this guide are some of the most popular sailboats ever made, the Sunfish, the O'Day Daysailer and the Drascombe Lugger, so there is a good chance you'll be tying lines on one of these boats.

https://www.amazon.com/Why-Knot-Skippers-Guide-Small/dp/1724677632